Peter King, legendary writer on his journey of 40 years inside the NFL, the stories that changed the game and relationships behind the infamous faces of the league from Patrick Mahomes to Michael Irvin to Bill Parcells to Mike Holmgren and more

Ryan Clark (0:00)

You can't write the story of the NFL without Peter King. Once nicknamed Relentless, he built a career on more than great writing. It was unmatched work ethic and relationships that opened the door to stories only he could tell. Before Bill Parcells became a Hall of Fame coach, Peter King would show up early for coffee and stand in the parking lot to have conversations that ultimately led to a great relationship, because that was Peter's secret. Yes, he outworked everyone, but he also understood that the relationships were just as important as being able to write a great story. He's the legendary creator of Monday Morning Quarterback, and he releases a new book now called The Game. It takes us back to the history of the league that he loves, and covering the Giants. Also, Michael Irvin and his office, which some would just call a strip club. We talked to Hall of Fame quarterbacks who remain his friend to this day, the moments that shaped the NFL, and why something I said over 15 years ago has stuck with him. He's the kind of storyteller who gazed out of the window at NFL films to see where Steve Sable's ashes were spread, and he shadowed Steve Young on the night he won Super Bowl MVP. He gave him enough Gatorade and cookies to watch him throw up, and sat as he needed IV fluids to keep him awake, just long enough to celebrate. Those are the kind of stories that only Peter King can tell. This conversation is special to me, because football is the game that I love. It's the game that Peter loves too. It's about relationships and a lifetime spent documenting the game through the eyes of someone who has seen it all. So please welcome the legendary Peter King as he shares his incredible knowledge, experiences, and stories with me, Chan, and Freddie T.

Peter King, absolute legend. We are honored to have you here on the Pivot. This is Channing Crowder. This is Fred Taylor. I'm Ryan Clark, Pivot fan. Thank you for pivoting with us. You are... I can't call it soundtrack because we read it, but for all of our football lives, you were the go-to man.

Your ability to get people to tell you stories and to allow you to be close, I think, is just indicative of the type of person you are and wasn't about the writer you were. I want to ask you about being... Working for the New York Giants or covering the New York Giants and showing up early every morning to be in the coffee room, right? So you might catch Coach Parcells or you might catch the DC or the OC, the assistant coaches in there.

What was it about your inquisitiveness that puts you in places like that to get close to where the stories were?

Peter King (2:55)

Ryan, you guys are going to know exactly what this is in your walk of life, okay? So when you guys go on to a football team in high school, college or the NFL, you always look at your competition. You always look at who you have to be better than to play.

And then you have to look at who do you have to be better than to get that second contract or in free agency to really get paid, okay? And so when I went to cover the New York Giants in 1985, I was 27 years old. And I only knew at the time there were 19 newspapers that covered the New York Giants every day. And so I didn't know a soul.

I knew nobody. I just showed up the first day, introduced myself to Bill Parcells.

I didn't know him. I didn't know anybody. And at that time, I said to my wife, I said, Ann, I know that I'm a little bit devoted to my job, but I got a big favor to ask you. I want to live in this little town in upstate New York, from New York City, Pleasantville, New York. And I want to live here so that I can be there every day at seven o'clock in the morning. Because most guys didn't show up until nine. So I would show up at seven, and I would see Parcells, Belichick, Ron Erhart, all the coaches on that staff. And about the third or fourth day, Bill Parcells looks at me, and I said, hey, good morning, Bill. And he goes, who the fuck are you?

And I said, I'm Peter King, I work for Newsday. And he says, what are you doing here? And I said, Bill, there's 19 newspapers that cover this beat every day. I want to compete. I want to be better than them. So in order to do that, I need to do something to distinguish myself, differentiate myself. And he just shook his head, and he walked out of the room. And I have no idea to this day, if he, I'm sure he doesn't even remember that. But Ryan, the only way you can be really good at something, in my opinion, is to look at your competition and say, how can I be better than them? That's how I always looked at it.